Gear control



E. L. SIMONSON GEAR CONTROL Filed May 25. 1921 5 sheets-sheet 1 V) SQNov. 6 H923.

E. L. S'IMONSON GEAR CONTROL Filed May 25 1921 @Q w M) 5 Sheets-Sheet 5v T all 'whom t may concern? Patented Nov. f5, 1923.

titane y Parent ortica.

'Unirse sra-ras.

ELMER L. SIMONSON, OF HOMESTEAD, PENNSYLVANIA.

GEAR CONTROL.

Be it known that I, ELMER L. SIMoNsoiv, a citizen of the United' States,residing at Homestead, in the county of 'Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Gear Control, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The device forming the subject matter of this application is adapted tobe used on motor propelled vehicles, and embodies a transmissionmechanism and means for shifting the gears or otherwise effecting the.

usual change from low into second, and from second into high, as wellasbaclrwardly from ity of devices of that type to which the 1nventionappertains.

With the aboveand other objects in view, which will appear as thedescription proceeds, theA invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that within the sco-pe ofwhat is claimed, changes in the precise embodiment of the inventionshown can be made withoutl departing fromv the spirit of the invention.i

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1,shows in longitudinal section, a

device constructed in accorda-nce with the invention, parts appearing inelevation; Figure 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional detaildisclosing parts of the shifting meehanism; Figure 43` is an enlargedplan view, wherein parts'appear in section; Figure 4 is a cross sectiontaken approximately on the line 4--4 of Figure 1; Figure 5 is a crosssection taken approximately on the line 5--5 of Figure 1; Figure 6 is atransverse section showing the inertia weights or slides, together withrsundry parts which cooperate with them; and Figure 7 is asectionaldetail showing the slides and attendant parts.

The device forming the subject matter of Application iled May 25, 1921.Serial No. l472,375.

. this application embodies a transmission mechanism, and ameansresponsive to speed changes for shifting the gears of the transmission.Various forms -of transmissions maybe used with the gear shifting means,but, 1n order to present a vcomplete and Opf verative embodiment of theinvention, the

transmission will be described in detail.

The transmission includes a gear casing 1 wherein an engine shaft 2 isjournaled. A sleeve 3 is mounted rotatably on the shaft 2 and carries across arm 4, whereon-pinions 5 are journaled. The pinions 5 mesh into aninternal gear rig6 carried by the casing 1, the pinions meshing,likewise, with a gear 7 keyed at 8 to the shaft 2.y The numeral 9 marksa cross armlike the part 4, but carried by a hub 10 rotatable on thesleeve 3;

Pinions -11 are journaled on the arm 9 and' mesh into an internal gearYring 12 carried by the easing 1,7 the pinions meshing, further, withagear wheel 14 which is keyed at 15 to the sleeve 3. Y l

A sleeve 16 is rotatable onL the sleeve 3 and is journaled inthe rearend of the casing 1. A gear wheel 17 isvloose on the sleeve 16 andmeshes into a inion 18 carried by 'a stub shaft 19, rotata le in thecasing 1 and in a -bearing 20 loeatedwithin the casing. A pin-V, 'ion 21is fixed tothe stub shaft 19 and meshes with an intermediate gear 21,supported ro-. tatab-ly on the casing and meshing into a gear wheel 22secured to the hub 10 which carries the arm 9. A clutch collar 23 issplined at 24 to the sleeve 16, to slide therealong, the clutch collarbeing under the control of an operator and serving to couple either thegear wheel 22 or the gear wheel 17 tothe sleeve 16.'

Passing from the transmission mechanism to the gear shifting means,there appears in the drawings, a rotatable member in the form of a drum25, embodyinga shell 26, a

forward end wall 27 and a rear end wall 28,

the wall 28 being provided with a tubular shaft 29 journaled in abearing 30, supported in any desired wayi It: is from the shaft 29 thatthe power ultimately is delivered, the power being derived from theengine shaft 2. The engine shaft 2 extends lengthwise of the drum 25 andenters the shaft 29 of the drum.

The forward end wall-27 of the drum 25 lhas a hub 31, extended withinthe end of is disposed within the drum 25, -in the rear of the forwardend wall of the drum, the k disk having a neck 33 surrounding the sleeve3 "and splined at 34 to the sleeve, the construction being such' thatthe disk 32 may be moved toward and away from the end wall 27 of the.drum. A clutch, of the disk type, ordinarily,` and denoted by thenumeral 35, forms an operative connection between the disk 32'and theend wall 27 of the drum.

A disk 36 is located outwardly of the wall 27 of the drum 25 andincludes a hub 37 rotatable upon the sleeve 16. The disk 36 may be movedtowardthe end wall 27 of the drum by any suitable meansthe hub37 of thedisk being adapted, as indicated at 38, for .the reception of mechanism.under the control of 'an operator for shifting the disk. The vhub 37 ofthe disk 36 is journaled in a two-part ring 39 (Figure 5), theconstituent members of which are connected as shown at 59. `'The ring 39is keyed at 40 to the hub 37 of the disk 36, the construction being suchthat, although the hub may rotate in thering, the hub and the ring are,nevertheless, connected for movement together, longitudinally oftheshaft 2. The ring 39 has radial arms 41 terminating in rearwardlyextended fingers 42 passing through the end wall 27 of the drum 25.ollers 43 ar'e journaled on the fingers 42 and are adapted to cooperatethe sleeve 16 and the disk 36, 'andis inter' posed between the disk 36and the end wall 27 of the drum. l As shown in Figure 2, a tubularmember 45 surrounds the shaft 2 within the drum 25 and is keyed to theshaft, as shown at 46. A ring 47 is disposed about the tubular member45, the parts 47.and 45 being connected bya key 48 or otherwise, asindicated in Figure 6. Guides 49, in the form of posts, project from thering 47 and are provided with slots 50. i Main slides 51, in the form of'inertia governor weights, are mounted for reciprocation on the guidesor posts 49. For convenience in assembly, each of the slides 51 may benade i-n two parts, united bysecuring elements 52. Ears 53 outstand fromthe slides 51, the ring 47 being supplied with ears 54.Retractilesprings 55 connect the ears 54 and 53, and are secured theretoas shown at 56. The function should the springs 55 break.

Apair of keepers is provided, the keepers being shown most clearly inFigure 6. Each keeper embodies a head 58 and a stem 61 projectingtherefrom. The heads 58 of the eepers are received slidablyin the slots50 of the guides 49 and are secured to the slides 51, as shown at 60.The stems of the keepers are overlapped on each other, and pass vto across piece 122, (Figure 1) movable in an opening 123 formed in theshaft 29 of the drum 25. A shift ring 124 is slidable on the shaft 29and constitutes means for moving thecross piece 122 and the latch pin121 with respect to the seats 62 (Figure 6) in the stems 61 of thekeepers. The function and 4the utility of the mechanism described inthis paragraph will bemade manifest here,- inafter.

Auxiliary slides 216 are mounted for reciprocation in the 'main slides51, theslides 216and 51 'being tongue and grooved together for relativeslidingmovement, as at Fingers 218 project outwardly from the auxiliaryslides .216 and are received in elongated slots' 219 in the main slides51, the construction being such that the slides 51 may have, a limitedamount of outward 'move-ment, centrifugally, before they pick numeral 68designates a two-part guide mounted on the tubular member 45, the partsof the guide being united by securing elements 69.

A telescopic operating member 70 is provided, the same including anangular part 71, slidablein the guide 68 and received between the slides216, there being one operating member for each of the cam grooves 64,the part 71 having projections, such as rollers 72, received in the camgrooves 64. The

telescopic operating member 70 embodies a part 73, slidable'in the part71 Vand united thereto by a lost motion connection 74, which may be inthe form of a pin and slot.

The parts 73 of the operating members 70 are connected at 75 to a ring76 received rotatably in a ring or carrier 77 splined at 'Lerares 78upon a sleeve 79 to slide therealong, the sleeve -being rotatable on thesleeve 3. The sleeve 79 is mounted for longitudinal movement, andcooperates with a buHer 8O surrounding the shaft 2 anddisposed betweenthe parts 3 and 45. There is a flange 81 on the sleeve 79, a compressionspring 82 surrounding one end of the sleeve and abutting against theflange and the vdisk 32.

The sleeve 79 is provided with oppositely extended tubular projections83 Whereon caps 84 are threaded, the caps retaining bushings 85 withinthe parts 83. Latches 86 are slidable in the caps 84, the bushings 85land the tubular projections 83. Coins pression springs 87 engagelabutments 88 on the latches `86 and engage the bushings 85. Threads 89are formed on the inner ends of the latches and arev adapted tocooperate with threads 94/ on the sleeve 3. The carrier or ring 77 hasarms 90 beveled at their ends, as at 91, to engagewith rollers 92 oncross pins 93 mounted in the latches 86, the

tubular projections 83 having elongated slots 126 formel in` their sidesto permit movement of the cross pins and the latches.

Referring to `Figure 2, it will be observed that togthe right of theguides or posts 49, there is a combination of parts substantiallyduplicating those last above described. The

' parts to the right of the guides 49 may be dismissed with a briefcatalogue description. The slides 216 are provided with cam grooves 95,the outer portions 96 of which are disposed at right angles to the aXisof the shaft 2, theLinner portions of the cam grooves slanting, as shownat 97, at an angle to the outer'v portions 96, the said portions 97being disposed approximately parallel to fthe parts 66 of the camgrooves 64. The telescoping operating members are shown at 98 and embodyangular parts 99 having rollers 100 received in the cam grooves 95. Themembers 101 are slidably mounted in the parts 99 and are connectedthereto by a lost motion pin and slot joint 102. The parts 101 of theoperating members 98 are connected at 103 to a ring 104 journaledronacarrier ring 105 connected, like the ring 7 7, to a sleeve, the sleeveofthe ring 105 being denoted by the numeral 106. A buffer 107 islocated" at the end of the tubular member and constitutes an abutmentfor the sleeve 106, which is provided with a flange 108 and receives thehub of a disk 110,the hub ofthe disk being marked by the numeral 109'and being splined at 128 to the shaft2. A spring 111 is interposedbetween 'the flange 108 and the disk 110. A'

lclutch 112 which may be of diskxform,.con

stitutes a connection between the member 5110 and the wall 28 of thedrum 25.

The tubular projections Vof the sleeve 10 appear at 113 and carry caps114, like the parts 84,#the latches being shown at 115 and havingthreads 116 adapted to coact with threads 117 on the shaft 2. Arms 118project from the carrier ring 105 and are beveled at 119 to coact withroller projections 120 on the latches 115.

Operation.

r1`he clutch collar 23 is moved into engagement with the gear wheel 22,thereby connecting the gear wheel to the sleeve 16. r1`he disk 36 ismoved by means of its hub 37 and any suitable operating mechanism, (notshown), until the clutch 44 forms a connection between the disk 36 andthe end 27 of the drum 25, so that when the disk is rotated the drumwill be rotated likewise.

`When the parts are arranged as above described, there is established alow gear driving train embodying the shaft 2, the gear 7, the pinions5,- the gear ring 6, the cross arm 4, the gear 14, the pinions 11, thegear ring 12, the cross arm 9, the gear wheel 22, the clutch collar 23,the sleeve 16, the clutch 44, the end wall27 of the drum 25, the endwall 28 of the drum, and the shaft 29, the shaft 29 being rotated in lowgear. y

As the speed builds up from low toward second, the following operationtakes place. Responsive to the rotation of the drum, the weights orslides 51 move outwardly on' the guides 49, the springs 55 being putunder tension. The slides 51 pick up the slides 216 when the lingers 218arrive at the outer ends of the slots 219. The rollers 72 on the members71 travel in the parts 65 of the camyslots I64 in the slides 216 andarrive in the parts 67 of the cam slots. The operatingv members 70 movetothe left (Figure 2) and carry therings 76 and 77 to the left, the arms90 being carried to the left and thebevel ends 91 of the arms cooperatewith the rollers 92 on the cross pins I deft, and the clutch 35 couplingthe disk 32 to the end wall 27 of the drum 25. When the disk 32 moves tothe left, it engages with the rollers 43 onthe fingers 42, the arms 41,the ring 39 and the disk 36 being carried to the left, the holdof theclutch 44 beingg loosened. y

Now thereV is established s driving. train p embodyingV the shaft 2, thegear 7,V the pinions 5, the gear ring 6, the cross arm 4,' the sleeve 3,the spline 34, the neck 33 of the` disk 32, the disk 32, the clutch 35,the end wall 27 of the drum 25, the shell 26 of the drum, the end wall28 of the drum, and the shaft 29 of the drum, the shaft 29 being opierated in second,7 so called, because, as

lil

hereinbefore explained, the clutch 44 has been thrown out automaticallyand the clutch thrown in automatically. The purpose of thelost motionconnection at 74 is to permit the sleeve 79 to be carried to the vlettbythe ring 77 after the ring 77 has 87, the threads 89 on the latchesbeing dis-I engaged from the threads 94 on the sleeve 3. The spring 82now reacts and restores the 4sleeve 79 to the position shown in Figure2, the pressure of the spring'82 on the disk 32 being relieved, andthehold of the'clutch 35 on the end wall 27 of the drum 25 being loosened.There is now' no driving connection with the left hand end of the drum.

During the operation last above described, and as the slides 51 and 216move outwardly, responsive to increased speed of rotation of the drum25, thel rollers 10,0 enter the parts 97 of the cam grooves 95 1n theslides 216. The operation then brought about at the right hand end ofthe device (Figures 1 and 2) resembles the operation hereinbeforedescribed, and may be set forth briefly. 'The operating members 98 movethe latches 115 inwardly, vthe sleeve 106 is carried to the right, thethreads 116 on the latches enga e.

with the threads 117 on the shaft 2, t e spring 111 is compressed, thedisk 110 renders the clutch 112 operative, and, tlien, there isestablished a direct driving connection,l in high, between the shaft 2and the drum 25, the shaft 29 of the drum being roy tated.

'When the speed 'of rotation of the engine shaftlessensn the clutch 112is first'thrown out7 and simultaneously, the clutch 35 is thrown in.Finally, as the speed decreases, the clutch 35 is thrown out. 'liheclutch 44 is not'operated at thistime, because, it will be recalled, theclutch 44 is set by the operator, through the instrumentality of 'thehub 37 on the disk 36, the clutch 44 having been thrown out at the timethat the clutch 35 is thrown'in automatically, during the change fromlow to second.

Suppose that the machine is running in second and that the speed ofrotation of the engine vshaft 2 is increased considerably, for anyreason, over and above the speed which one normally maintains in second.Under -to the left (Figure 1), carrying with it the cross pin 122 andthe latch pin 121, the latch pin entering the seats 62 in the stems 61of the keepers which are secured to and form part of the slides 51, theseats 62 being o posite to each other, and cooperating to orm an openingfor the reception ofv the latch pin, when th'e mechanism is in second.Clearly, the slides 51 cannot move outwardly, due to their inertia, whenthey are held by the nlatch pin 121, and there can be no automaticchange from second to high, until the latch pin has been retracted intothe position shown in Figure 2 of the drawin s. i

ln case it is desired to eiiect a reversal, the clutch collar 23 isshifted out of engagement with the gear wheel 22 and into engagementwith the .gear wheel 17, the gear wheel 17 being coupled tothe sleeve16, and the driving train then including the pinions 18, and 21, 21L and22, a reversal being brought about in a way more or less com inoii andwell understood by those skilled in the art.

Reverting to Figure 7, it may be stated that since the slides 51 have alimited amount of movement at 218-219 independently of the slides 216,before the slides 216 play, a variation of about 5 miles per hour in carspeed, from the point of change between low and second on the one hand,and second and high on the other hand, is permitted,

and this variation will compensate for any slight decrease in the speedof rotation of the engine shaft during the change from second into high.

l claimzy 1. lin a device of the class described, ii driving element; amember rotatable with respect to the driving element; a clutch mov--able longitudinally of the driving element and adapted to connect thedriving element with said member; a sleeve movable longitudinally of thedriving element and connected with the clutch; a latch slidable in thesleevethe latch and the driving element having threads; inertia means'responsive to the-rotation of the driving element; and mechanismoperatively connected with the inertia means to advance thesleeve and toadvance the latch, thereby to cause 'the threads of the latch and of thedriving eleare moved and the cam slots brought -into mentto nterengageand to cause the clutch to form a connection between the driving elementand' said member.

'2. In a device of the class described, a driving element; a memberrotatable with respect to the driving able longitudinally of the drivingelement and adapted to connect the'driving element with said member; asleeve movable longitudinally of the drivin f element; a compressionspring interposed etween the sleeve and the clutch; a latch slidable inthe sleeve, the latch and( Athe driving element having threads; inertiameans responsive to the rotation of thev rotation ofthe driving elcment;and mechanism for connecting the inertia means with the sleeve and withthe latch, operatively, thereby lto adzvance the sleeve and to advancethe latch, to bring the threads of the latch and o-f vthe drivingelement into engagement, the spring being compressed, and operating uponthe clutch when the sleeve is advanced.

3. In a device of the class described, relatively rotatable drivingelements; a member rotatable with respect lto the driving ele ments; ars't clutch carried b one driving Arotatable with respect to the drivingelement; means responsive/to t e rotation of said driving element forengaging the clutch with said member; and a second clutch carried by theother Vdriving element `and under the control 'of an operator to engagesaid.mcmber, the sec'ond clutch comprising a partcooperating withy therst clutch to gisengage the same from therotatable mem- 4. In a deviceof the class described, rela tively rotatable driving elements a memblere ements; a first clutch movable longitudinally of one driving elementto connect the same with the rotatable member; `a sleeve movablelongitudinally of said driving element and l .connected operatively withthe clutch; a latch slidable in the sleeve, the latch and'said drivingelement having threads; inertia means responsive to the rotation of thesaid driving element;,rnechanism connecting the sleeveand the latch withthe inertia means, to advance the sleeve and to advance the latch,thereby causing the threads of the engage the rotatable member, andincludthe rst clutch ing a part cooperating with to disengage the firstclutch from the rotatable member;

5. In a device of the class described, a plurality of relativelyrotatable elements; a member rotatable with respect to said elements;latches carried by two of the rotatable elements and cooperating withthe r0- tatable member; inertia means responsive to the rotation of saidelements; .mechanism for connecting'the inertia vmeans with the clutchesto operate the clutches responsive to different speeds; and a thirdclutch under the control of an operator .and carried by a third one ofthe rotatable elements, the third clutch cooperating with the rotatablemember, and including a part coacting with one of the irst,specifiedclutches to disengage the same from the rotatable member.

6. In a device of the class described, a

driving shaft respect thereto; a guide rotatable` with the shaft; aweight slidable on the guide; 4spring means for restraining the outward'movement of the weight; a clutch forming a con- 4 nection between theshaft and the -rotatable member; means for actuating the clutch `wardmovement.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aixedmy signature.

'ELMER L. srMoNsoN.

a member .rotatable with

